Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Denver and Salt Lake Railroad

Interstate Commerce Commission, Valuation Reports, Volume 119

The Denver and Salt Lake Railroad

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Location and General Description of Property

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The railroad of The Denver and Salt Lake Railroad Company, hereinafter called the carrier, is a single-track, standard-gauge, steam railroad, located in northern Colorado. The owned mileage consists of a main line extending northwesterly from Utah Junction to Craig, a distance of 251.997 miles. The property used under lease consists of a line extending from Fifteenth Street, in Denver, to Utah Junction, a distance of 3.180 miles, together with terminal facilities at Denver, and is a portion of the road owned by The Northwestern Terminal Railway Company. The carrier owns and uses 302.096 miles of all tracks and uses, but does not own, 5.676 miles of all tracks. These tracks, consisting of first main tracks, yard tracks, and sidings, are classified in the trackage table in Appendix 1.

Introductory

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The carrier is a corporation of the State of Colorado, having its principal office at Denver, Colo. It is controlled by voting trustees, as explained further in the section of this report devoted to history of corporate financing. On the other hand, the carrier controls, through ownership of the entire capital stock, The Northwestern Terminal Railway Company. It operates the entire property of The Northwestern Terminal Railway Company, but that portion which was used for switching purposes was operated as agent for the owner. The property of the carrier was operated by its own organization from the dates acquired by it to August 16, 1917. From the latter date to June 30, 1918, the property was operated by receivers. On July 1, 1918, its common-carrier property was taken over by the United States Railroad Administration, which still operates it.

Corporate History

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The carrier was incorporated December 13, 1912, under the general laws of the State of Colorado for the purpose of acquiring, completing, and operating the property and franchises of The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company, a company incorporated under the general laws of the State of Colorado July 18, 1902. The date of organization of the carrier was December 30, 1912. Pursuant to the above purposes the carrier, acquired through foreclosure sale on May 1, 1913, the property of The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

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The owned mileage of the carrier, amounting to 251.997 miles, was acquired partly through foreclosure and partly by construction, as indicated in the following statement:

Recorded
mileage
Acquired through foreclosure, from The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company, May 1, 1913, constructed for that company, Utah Junction to Steamboat Springs, Colo., 1903-1909. 210.77
Acquired by construction, Steamboat Springs to Craig, Colo., 1913. 41.23
Total. 252.00
Difference between the total recorded mileage and mileage inventoried as of date of valuation. .003
Mileage inventoried as of date of valuation. 251.997

The road built for the carrier was constructed under contract by The Denver and Salt Lake Construction Company, affiliated contractors.

Leased Railway Property

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The carrier on June 30, 1918, used facilities owned by other companies as indicated below. The description of the property, the period and terms of use, and the rentals accrued or charged to income for the year ended June 30, 1918, are as follows:

Rentals
Solely used, but not owned, leased from The Northwestern Terminal Railway Company; operates entire property in accordance with a verbal arrangement. The part of the operations covering switching service is for account of the lessor company, which receives all revenues and pays all expense of switching service for outside interests. Stipulated rental for property used for business of the carrier is equal to interest on first-mortgage bonds of lessor exclusive of $50,000 par value of such bonds owned by the carrier, and expense of maintenance. $108,350

The common-carrier property of the carrier including that which it operated under lease, was taken over for operation by the United States Railroad Administration on July 1, 1918, and is operated by the latter on date of valuation. The carrier owns certain telegraph property along its road and The Western Union Telegraph Company exercises the privilege of using jointly with the owner certain of this telegraph property. On the other hand, the carrier has the joint use of certain telegraph property owned by The Western Union Telegraph Company. The details covering the terms of use were not obtained from the records reviewed.

Predecessor Company

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The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company

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Introductory

The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company was incorporated in the State of Colorado July 18, 1902. The records reviewed indicate that The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company was controlled by The Denver Railway Securities Company through ownership of a majority of the outstanding capital stock on May 1913, the date of sale to the carrier after foreclosure. On the other hand, this company, itself, controlled on the date of sale, through ownership of the entire capital stock, The Northwestern Terminal Railway Company, whose property it operated under lease.

The property of this company was operated by its own organization from July 1, 1909, the date turned over by the contractors, until receivers were appointed on May 1, 1912. From the latter date until the date of sale it was operated by receivers. The railroad operated by The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company was a single-track, standard-gauge, steam railroad, located within the State of Colorado, and aggregated 213.95 miles. The owned mileage amounted to 210.77 miles and extended from Utah Junction, near Denver, to Steamboat Springs. The mileage operated under lease amounted to 3.18 miles and extended from Denver to Utah Junction, being part of the property owned by The Northwestern Terminal Railway Company.

Development of Fixed Physical Property

The entire 210.77 miles of road owned by The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company on the date of its sale had been acquired by construction. The construction work of The Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company was all performed by The Colorado-Utah Construction Company, affiliated contractors. Further details with respect to the construction of this property are given in the section on development of fixed physical property in the report on the carrier.